Light modulators have been developed for amplitude and/or phase modulation of incident light. One application of a light modulator is in a display system. As such, multiple light modulators are arranged in an array such that each light modulator provides one or more cells or pixels of the display.
An example of a light modulator includes a micro-mirror device. The micro-mirror device includes an electrostatically actuated mirror supported for rotation about an axis of the mirror. As such, rotation of the mirror about the axis may be used to modulate incident light by directing or reflecting the incident light in different directions. For example, the micro-mirror device may be used to direct the incident light to a viewer or onto a display screen.
Mirrors of micro-mirror devices are fragile and complicated to manufacture. In addition, the mirrors have to withstand being moved through several thousand cycles per second. Thus, the mirrors are susceptible to stiction and/or complete failure.
Accordingly, it is desirable for a light modulator which modulates incident light without relying on moving mirrors.